Gregory Deane

Price range: $3,300 to $18,800. Point to an image for more information. Click to enlarge.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

In October of 2004, the painting “Assuredness #1712” by Gregory Deane, was placed in the permanent collection of the estimable Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. This great honor was bestowed on Deane following his highly regarded show, in September 2002, at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. Gregory Deane was the first American artist to have a solo show at the Accademia, founded in 1563 with Michelangelo as one of its first teachers.

Gregory Deane is a visual virtuoso whose every brushstroke breathes passion. Specializing in abstract and nonobjective painting he applies paint generously, using colors vividly; his lines give a sense of movement that overflows with poetic emotion. Under dominate broad strokes of color subtleties and complexities reveal themselves as layers of hidden color, surprising textures, shadows and mysterious form. A master of composition Deane notes, “A painting’s open spaces are just as important as the areas of thickest paint because they create energy that makes the painting thrive as a whole.” The artistic vision of Gregory Deane, his reputation and success, has always been attributed to his involvement of the viewer in his creative act. To him, that is how his artist’s passion makes its mark.

From an early age Gregory Deane excelled at art, fascinated, even as a child, with color arrangements and textures, portraits and character studies soon followed. Having moved from Oregon to California as a teenager Deane found his way to design school in San Francisco and began his working life in the design field. But all the while he painted. It was in the mid-70s that he decided to devote his full attention to fine art and in 1977 held his first solo abstract art show in Honolulu, HI. Gregory Deane has gone on to have many showings of his critically acclaimed expressionist artwork. His paintings are regularly featured in major art galleries from Florida to Hawaii, and now appear in private art collections throughout the world.

Deane’s paintings range from large to small; some works sixteen feet wide by ten feet high, some three by five inches in size. The result can be a feeling of overwhelm, or a silent moment of intimacy. Whatever the size, color is carefully controlled, whether vibrant or monochromatic. "I have certain things in mind when I create each piece,” Deane says, “perhaps the emotion of joy or tranquility when I choose my colors, or perhaps the influence of the Orient or an obscure European tradition when I layer in bits of paper or gold leaf. This is new art, but tradition is frequently there too. ... My art, at its best," he continues "is a continuous process of self-discovery." Inspired by travels to China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Italy, Deane's expressionist paintings have more recently taken a turn toward mixed media. "By including a photograph or words from a newspaper, bits of tissue paper or whatever might be at hand,” he says, "I can evoke a grounded feeling of place, whether it's an African jungle or a Chinese market.”

"Life has its many changes, as do the hands of the painter,” Gregory Deane notes. “Some artists choose to paint the dark side of their existence, and that is their choice if that is all they wish to see. I've chosen to try to paint many moods and to evoke a feeling with my work - of joy, quiet reflection, excitement, sobriety ... If you look at art every day, why not look at something that gives you delight or a feeling of exultation?" Within the complexity of Deane’s artistic vision one may easily find elements of contrast, of juxtaposition, something that gives tension to the painting's fundamental joy.

"I've found," Deane says, "that a good painting is one you can internalize, one in which a given element or the work as a whole means something special to you - perhaps in ways you might not admit to another person." Collectors appear to embrace this symbiotic expression of the artistic vision of Gregory Deane. Today, his paintings grace numerous private and corporate collections; his clients now include sports figures, politicians, movie stars, lawyers, surgeons, authors, and designers - even royalty. Corporate clients range from Nordstrom to Hewlett-Packard and include medical, real estate, software establishments, restaurants, retail stores, banks, and exclusive hotels.